University of South Carolina School of Law professor Elizabeth Chambliss was recently elected as a new member of The American Law Institute, one of the highest honors available to members of the legal profession.
Members are selected based on outstanding achievement in the legal profession, and Chambliss joins more than 4,500 practitioners from the bar, bench, and academy, including fellow South Carolina Law faculty members Jaclyn Cherry, Martin McWilliams, and Wadie Said; emeritus faculty Richard Day, James Flanagan, David Owen, and James Underwood; former dean Burnele Powell; and Dean William Hubbard.
“The ALI is uniquely valuable in bringing together practitioners, judges, and scholars to improve and modernize the law,” says Chambliss. “I am honored to have been elected and look forward to working on projects focused on improving access to the civil justice system.”
Chambliss is the Henry Harman Edens Professor of Law and director of the Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough Center on Professionalism. She studies the organization and regulation of the legal profession and the effects of globalization and information technology on the U.S. legal services market. Her current research focuses on new models for legal services delivery, and the development of legal and methodological standards for evidence-based lawyer regulation. At the NMRS Center, she leads research and educational activities focused on access to civil assistance and advances the center’s mission “to enrich teaching and research on the legal profession and to promote professionalism, civic leadership, and public service in the practice of law.”
Chambliss also serves on the South Carolina Access to Justice Commission, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Legal Services Design Project, and the Editorial Advisory Board of Law & Society Review. Prior to joining the law school in 2013, she worked at New York Law School, Harvard Law School, University of Denver College of Law, University of Texas School of Law, and University of Wisconsin Law School.
The American Law Institute (ALI) is a private, independent, nonprofit organization with a mission “to promote the clarification and simplification of the law and its better adaptation to social needs, to secure the better administration of justice, and to encourage and carry on scholarly and scientific legal work.”
In a statement announcing its new members, ALI president David F. Levi said, “I am pleased to welcome this new group of practicing lawyers, academics, and state and federal judges who will bring their own unique voices and contributions to our work, at a time when our work is most needed. Our membership continues to prove that civil debate and careful deliberation are still possible, even on a virtual platform. We welcome these new members and look forward to the contributions they will make to our Restatement, Principles, and Model Code projects. It will be a particular pleasure to welcome them in person just as soon as that becomes possible.”